Wilson has overcome adversity

For Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver Devin Wilson, every step he takes on a football field truly is a blessing. In fact, the 24-year-old product of Nashville, Tenn., feels that way about every step he takes anywhere.

REGINA — For Saskatchewan Roughriders receiver Devin Wilson, every step he takes on a football field truly is a blessing.

In fact, the 24-year-old product of Nashville, Tenn., feels that way about every step he takes anywhere.

On Sept. 28, 2010, Wilson — then a sophomore with the Tennessee State University Tigers — was hit low by a defensive back after catching a pass across the middle in practice.

Wilson has no recollection of what happened next. He’s not sure if he landed on his head or his back; all he knows is he woke up paralyzed.

“When I came to in the hospital, the doctors were telling me to move this and move that and I couldn’t,” Wilson recalls. “I just broke down in tears.

“Football went out of my mind. Being able to move or do the little things we take for granted — like typing on a keyboard or texting somebody — I couldn’t do that.”

All Wilson could do was wait while doctors at Vanderbilt Hospital tried to determine what course of action to take. He had suffered an injury to his spinal cord, but no one knew the extent of the damage.

Eventually, an MRI was ordered.

“My chaplain, my mother and my stepfather said a prayer over me before I went to the MRI machine,” Wilson says. “When I was laying in there, I started praying to God.

“I told Him, ‘I know I’ve had some wrongdoings in my life, but if you could just let me move again, I’ll make sure I’ll give you the glory for everything I do.’ It was bizarre, because right when I said, ‘Amen,’ it was like a weight was lifted off of me.

“The guy who was doing the MRI said, ‘You’ve got to be still. You can’t be moving. We’re trying to take an MRI.’ I said, ‘No, dude, you don’t understand. I can move again!’ ’’

Wilson’s doctors determined that he’d suffered a shock to his spinal cord. They also told the player, his family and his coach that Wilson’s recovery was nothing short of a miracle.

Even though the Tigers were only four games into their 2010 schedule, Wilson had to miss the remainder of the season. He was determined to return to the field, but he wasn’t allowed to work out as his sophomore year drained away.

Remarkably, when he showed up for his junior season, he was bigger, faster and stronger than he’d been before getting hurt.

“Some of my teammates said, ‘What have you been doing?’ ’’ Wilson says. “I told them, ‘I’ve been in a neck collar. I haven’t been doing anything. It’s the Man Above. He takes care of everything when He wants to.’ ”

Wilson says he never had a second thought about the injury when he returned to the field in 2011. Having been raised in Nashville’s inner city, he had fought through adversity in his formative years, so the injury was just another thing to overcome.

“It has made me a stronger person,” Wilson says. “After that incident, I don’t care how hard somebody hits me. It doesn’t matter because I’ve been through the worst already.

“I feel there’s something bigger in the Good Lord’s plans for me. Otherwise, He would have kept me like I was (in the hospital). If He wanted me to be done playing football, He would have let me be done. But I don’t think it’s over yet.”

After completing his college career, Wilson played with the Professional Indoor Football League’s Richmond Raiders. This past winter, he was working as a valet in Nashville when his agent called and told Wilson he was to work out for the Roughriders.

Wilson signed as a free agent with Saskatchewan in May and, after being cut in training camp, joined the practice roster. After spending the first six weeks of the 2015 regular season on the practice roster, the 6-foot-2, 195-pounder made his Roughriders debut Aug. 8 against the host Toronto Argonauts.

Today, he’s to start again when Saskatchewan plays host to the Calgary Stampeders — and he’ll again take the field with Sept. 28, 2010 on his mind.

“It taught me to be grateful for every opportunity, every moment of every day and every movement,” Wilson says. “To be able to take another step, put on another helmet, catch another ball or hug my mother, those are big things to me.”

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